Expandable Tubular Successfully Scab Off Severe Casing Leaks

摘要

The number of old wells completed with uphole packersshowed a dramatic increase in casing leaks. The leaks weredumping aquifer fluid directly to the reservoir and vice versa.Many wells experienced this kind of problem.The conventional practice to isolate these kinds of leaks was torun and cement a scab off liner. This resulted in runningsmaller production strings and consequently resulted in adramatically reduction in the production rate and chokingwells with high pressure it also limits future remedialworkovers of developed future leaks.Saudi Aramco launched a campaign to recover and salvagewells that had been affected by severe casing leaks and hotspot corroded sections. The solid expandable liner wasintroduced in two sizes of casing. Introduction and usage ofthis new technical application will have a maximum ID aftersetting the solid expandable to run the maximum tubing size,to achieve the highest production rate.This paper will describe the successful application of thistechnology and its comparative advantages, including reducedcost and salvaging wells without the need to sidetrack as hadbeen done before. The paper also includes some review ofrecently applied casing repair results in several wells.